3/29/2013

Regardless of what you want, a new car, a black belt, a boyfriend etc,
ultimately, the thing we all crave is to be happy. Despite this, many
fail to grab hold of this free commodity. This article offers three
suggestions for how you can find happiness in your life.

Reaching Out, Reaching In
Most people are aware there is some sort of mind body connection but few
realise just how much it impacts our lives. We live in a World where
literally thousands of people die each day due to stress related
illnesses and one in five adults live with psychosomatic illnesses. So
why are people so many people unhappy and therefore unhealthy?

The Definition Of Frustration
Frustration rears its ugly head in nearly every area of our life. We may
become frustrated at work because we are not recognised, in our studies
because our results are not improving, in our fitness programs because
the weight doesn’t seem to fall off, in our relationships because we
continue to argue. This article gives insight into how to give
frustration the slip and move forward in your life.

All I want Is To Be Happy
With the complexities of the human condition, when you break it all
down, we all share one basic desire in life; we want to be happy. If
this is the case, and we put so much effort into achieving it, why is it
so hard to find? This article looks at the human emotion of happiness
and how to best obtain it.

3/15/2013

Genuine Karate is like hot water; it cools down if you do not keep heating it.

Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE (born Chan Kong-sang, ; 7 April 1954) is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer, and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts.
He is one of the few actors to have performed all of his film stunts.
Jackie Chan has been acting since the 1960s and has appeared in over 150
films.

Chan has received stars on the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. As a cultural icon, Chan has been referenced in various pop songs, cartoons, and video games. An operatically trained vocalist, Chan is also a Cantopop and Mandopop star, having released a number of albums and sung many of the theme songs for the films in which he has starred.

The Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation

Founded in 1988, the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation offers
scholarships and active help to Hong Kong's young people through a
variety of worthy causes. Over the years, the foundation has broadened
its scope to include provision of medical services, aid to victims of
natural disaster or illness, and projects where the major beneficiaries
are Hong Kong people or organisations. Major donation projects of The
Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation:

The Dragon's Heart Foundation

The Dragon's Heart Foundation was founded in 2005 to fulfill the
desperate needs of children and the elderly in remote areas of China.
Since 2005, the Dragon's Heart Foundation has built over a dozen
schools, provided books, fees, and uniforms, and has raised millions of
dollars to give much-needed educational opportunities for the poor. In
addition, the Dragon's Heart Foundation provides for the elderly with
donations of warm clothing, wheelchairs, and other items. Jackie often
travels to the remote locations to attend groundbreakings or school
openings, and to lend support and encouragement.

3/14/2013

Karate did not originate from the way of Buddhism or from the way of
Confucianism. In the not-too-distant past, both Shorin-ryu and Shorei-ryu were
introduced from China. Both styles have many similarities and they both have their strong
points. They should not be changed. I would like to make a record of the following things:

1. The main
purpose of Karate is for health benefits. It is appropriate to fight an
antagonist if your purpose is to safeguard your country or those who
preside over you. When you fight, you should have no hesitation to lose
your own life if necessary (the resolute acceptance of death). Never
fight an enemy without good reason. If
you encounter a criminal or a ruffian, don’t fight him if you can help
it, but just block as you evade, stepping out of the way.

2. The purpose of Karate is to make the body like iron, or as hard as rock.
Your hands and feet should be used like the points of arrows. Your heart should
be mighty and bold. If children would practice Karate from the time they are in
elementary school, they would be well prepared for the time they are to serve in
the Armed Forces. After the Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon, he mentioned the fact
that that tomorrow's triumph will come from today's school yard.

3. Karate cannot
be learned in a short amount of time. A bull that walks very
slowly will, in due time, travel a thousand miles. In like manner, if
you study
and practice earnestly each day, in three or four years you will
understand what the core of Karate is about. Indeed, the very shape of
your bones will change.

You will discover the essence of Karate if you follow these points:

4. In Karate, the "fist-foot" or fist and foot is a very important point. You should train them
thoroughly on the makiwara. When you do it, drop your shoulders, open your
lungs, take hold of your strength, grip the floor with your feet and sink your
ch'i to your lower abdomen. Excercise with each arm one to two hundred times.

5. When you are practicing Karate stances, make sure your back is straight,
drop your shoulders, take your strength and put it in your legs, stand firmly
and direct the ch'i into your lower abdomen. You must hold the top and bottom of
your abdomen together tightly.

6. You should practice the external techniques of Karate one by one, repeated over and over again, many
times. These things are passed down verbally. Therefore, it
is very important to spend the time and effort to learn the explanations and
decide when and how they should be used. Go in, counter, release; is the rule of
torite.

7. You must decide for yourself why you practice Karate, whether it is for
making your body more healthy or for improving yourself in doing your duties.

8.During practice you should imagine that you are in a real battle. When
blocking and striking make your eyes glare, drop your shoulders and harden your
body. Then block the incoming punch and then strike him. Always practice with
this spirit so that when you are in a real battle, you will be well prepared to
be able to react naturally.

9. Do not overexert yourself during practice, because your ch'i will rise up,
your face and eyes will turn red and you will bring injury to your body. Be
careful of this.

10. In the past,
many of those who have become experts in Karate have lived
to an old age. This is because Karate helps to develop the bones and
sinews. It
also helps the digestive tract and is good for blood circulation.
Therefore,
from this time foreward, Karate should be the foundation of all lessons
in
sports from the elementary schools on up. If this is the way it is done
from now on, I think that there will be many people who, when they are
alone and outnumbered, will literally be able to win against ten
attackers.

The reason for writing all this is that, in my opinion, all students at the
Okinawa Prefectural Teachers' Training College should practice Karate, so that
when they graduate, they will be able to teach the school children the same way
I have taught them. I predict that within ten years Karate will spread all over
Okinawa and then to the Japanese mainland. This will be a great asset to the
military and to our society. I expect that you will carefully study the words I
have written here.

3/10/2013

Self-defense is not a sport.

I think we can all agree on that.

So, by definition, traditional Karate can’t really be called a sport. Sure, people try hard to make Karate
into a pseudo team sport – especially in tournaments – but the harsh
reality is that on the mythical ‘streets’ there is just one person you
can count on, and that person is you. No backup, no judges, no
weight-classes, no safety net. Just you and your bare fists.

However, just like in sports, traditional Karate involves two opposite sides.A losing side and a winning side.

Which side do you want to be on?

Me, personally, I prefer the winning side. You know, the side that can go home without the crutches. And who doesn’t? I
mean, even in school, from a young age, we’re all taught that we should
always strive to be winners. Winners get all the praise, attention and
honor. Nobody ever comes up to a loser and says “That was great, you’re super!” unless they’re being sarcastic. Right?

Sadly, when it comes to sport, not everybody can always be a winner.
If you are smaller, weaker or slower than your competition, chances are
slim that you’ll ever win in any significant way (unless you have insane
amounts of motivation). You just don’t have the odds on your side. So
you change, and either choose a team sport (where you can blend in) or
you quit sports altogether and play video games instead.

But, again, traditional Karate isn’t a sport.

Because the streets don’t allow for that.

In self-defense there is no quitting, no changing, and we
must always assume that our competition will be bigger, stronger,
faster, meaner and harder. Every time.

And, to top it off, we must win.

Every time.

Being average, blending in, is easy and safe in the dojo – but when
things are about to go down you need to step your game up and give 110%.

And, if you ask me, one of the most surefire ways to succeed with that is by having the correct mental attitude.
So that’s what this article is going to be about. Mental training.
Sports psychology. To help you understand a bit more about the
non-physical aspect of training… in order to stop being the ‘best of the
worst’ or the ‘worst of the best’ (what we generally refer to as being “average”) and have a fighting chance.

Because, although being average, insecure and/or comfy is a common
tactic among many dojo rats that I know, those traits won’t exactly help
you on the notorious ‘streets’.

You need something more.

I think that ‘something more’ is mental power.

We can change.

In fact, we are changing every day, all the time, without knowing. We
experience change naturally as we age. The direction of that change,
however, can either be determined by you or for you.

In sports, winners are the ones who successfully control and direct their self-image.

On the street, survivors are the ones who successfully control and direct their self-image

Example: Some people think it’s not “like them” to
drive a car one hundred miles an hour. If they get just a few miles over
the speed limit, their self-image makes them feel uncomfortable until
they slow down. It’s not “like them” to drive fast, so they don’t. Another example:
Some people think it’s not “like them” to be successful at certain
stuff, like, say, cooking. So they just eat instant noodles all day
long! If they happen to eat something more fancy, they feel
uncomfortable.

3/08/2013

The following links direct you to the pages that contain
downloads/information for competition rules for various Karate governing
bodies. Different tournaments follow slightly different rules for
competition, so please contact Sensei Madani for any questions in regard
of the rules of competition for the specific tournament you are
attending.

A Short History of Shotokan Karate

Gichin Funakoshi is widely considered as the “father” of modern day
karate. He was born in the Shuri prefecture in Okinawa in 1868 and at
the age of 11 began to study Karate under two of Okinawa’s top masters.
In time, he became a master in his own right and in 1922 he was invited
to demonstrate karate to the Japanese public for the very first time.
The demonstration was such a success he was invited to stay in Japan and
teach, which he did with great success.

For Sensei Funakoshi, the word ‘karate’ eventually took on a deeper
meaning than just martial arts training, transforming into what is has
become known as karate-do, the ‘way of the empty hand.’ He was to modify
the Okinawan art by taking inspiration from traditional Japanese budo
(kendo, judo, etc) and integrated their philosophical aspects into his
and his student’s training. This became a total discipline, which
represented a synthesis of Okinawaan and Japanese schools and in 1936 he
established the ‘SHOTOKAN’ style of Japanese karate which was to be
greatly influenced by his son Yoshitaka (Giko) and Masatoshi Nakayama,
first headmaster of the Japan Karate Association.

Whereas his father was responsible for transforming karate from a
mere fighting technique into a philosophical martial ‘do’ (way of life),
Yoshitaka was put in charge of developing, helped by other important
martial artists, a karate technique that definitively separated Japanese
karate-do from the local Okinawaan art, thus giving it a completely
different and at the same time notoriously Japanese flavour.

It is upon these concepts that in 1948, the Japan Karate Association
(JKA) was founded. The establishment of the JKA lead the way to the
spread of Shotokan karate throughout the world. Master Masatoshi
Nakayama, one of Funakoshi’s greatest students, succeeded him as the
headmaster of the JKA and during his time there he further developed
Shotokan, based on his own research, into the style we know today.

It was through master Nakayama’s vision, that Shotokan has spread
throughout the world by enriching many people’s lives in many countries,
while other senior instructors stayed in Japan at the Sohonbu to teach
the next generation of Shotokan masters.

Whereas his father was responsible for transforming karate from a
mere fighting technique into a philosophical martial ‘do’ (way of life),
Yoshitaka was put in charge of developing, helped by other important
martial artists, a karate technique that definitively separated Japanese
karate-do from the local Okinawaan art, thus giving it a completely
different and at the same time notoriously Japanese flavour.

It is upon these concepts that in 1948, the Japan Karate Association
(JKA) was founded. The establishment of the JKA lead the way to the
spread of Shotokan karate throughout the world. Master Masatoshi
Nakayama, one of Funakoshi’s greatest students, succeeded him as the
headmaster of the JKA and during his time there he further developed
Shotokan, based on his own research, into the style we know today.

It was through master Nakayama’s vision, that Shotokan has spread
throughout the world by enriching many people’s lives in many countries,
while other senior instructors stayed in Japan at the Sohonbu to teach
the next generation of Shotokan masters.

Funakoshi’s (Shotokan) Principals

Never forget: Karate begins and ends with rei. Rei has the meaning of respect.

There is no “first hand” in Karate. (Meaning there is no first attack, karate is about self-defense)

Karate supports righteousness.

First understand yourself, then understand others.

The art of mind is more important than the art of technique.

The mind needs to be freed.

Trouble is born of negligence.

Do not think that Karate is only in the dojo.

The training of Karate requires a lifetime.

Transform everything into Karate; therein lies the exquisiteness.

Genuine Karate is like hot water; it cools down if you do not keep heating it.

Do not have an idea of winning, while the idea of losing is not necessary.

Transform yourself according to the opponent.

The outcome of the fight all depends on the maneuver.

Imagine one’s arms and legs as swords.

Once you leave the shelter of home there are a million enemies.

Postures are for the beginner, later they are natural positions.

Do the kata correctly, the real fight is a different matter.

Do not forget the dynamics of power, the elasticity of the body, and the speed of technique.